Hey you, you say you want to change the world.

The weather has been really nice here and in Alameda this week. I was out in the backyard just now talking with my mom and star-gazing. It's very clear tonight and cool but not chilly. Perfect weather. I still don't have a reclining lawn chair. Every year I tell myself that I'm going to get one, but I never get around to it. It would be cool to get some wireless in the house, a laptop, and go out on the patio and surf and do various and sundry on-line things. Heh. One of these days.

I had a pretty busy Friday. A utility in Cleveland found an interesting "feature" in one of the capacitor bank controls. I'm now investigating that for yet another potential fix to the software I have been dying to release all summer. Sheesh.

I had an interesting lunch. Ted, a friend of Tom's and mine is in town. Ted's a resource developer. He's trying to put together some deal in Nevada that's going to make him richer to the tune of fourteen million dollars. I'm not so sure. I have the sneaking suspicion that he's being conned by the people with whom he's dealing. Tom thinks the same thing. He's going to do a little looking into things to see what he can see. Ted's a pretty nice guy and has a lot of integrity himself but he may be a little too trusting in this instance. I hope for his sake he's not getting conned, but also because he's looking to put some money into McGuffin if this deal of his ever goes down. The man has a phenomenal patience. I have joked with Tom that Ted's background, (he's a geologist) has influenced him and he tends to think in geological time. I believe he's in his seventies. He's still sharp. I hope that I still have that kind of mental agility when I'm his age.

Ted took Tom and I to lunch at Pier 29 in Alameda this afternoon. I'd never been there before. It's got some pretty good meals on the menu. It's right on the water on the western side of the island and there is a spectacular view of the San Francisco skyline out the dining room windows. Not for the last time do I mention how much I love California and the Bay Area in particular.

After work Tom called again and I joined Ted and him at La Pinata. This is the second time in less than a week that I have been there. I really like the place, even though it's usually loud there and crowded. The food is great.

I'm still investigating Open Lina Software. They're looking for potential investors and Tom thinks he may be able to put them together with some people. I'm still trying to get a handle on where they are going and their marketability. They've got a great technical group and the software itself is an impressive accomplishment. Tom and I have been putting our heads together to try and figure out what these guys need to get them most profitably off the ground. The potential is there but I'm still looking for information. Tom and I were going to introduce Ted to some of the Lina people this evening but it was late and they were apparently indisposed at the time. I suppose I should ask some of the IT people who read these words what they think of it, especially the Open Source Evangelists and the Linux Cultists among them.

I'd not been there myself before.

It's on the south side of the island on Ballena Boulevard. Follow Webster St. south to Central then west on Central to the 4th St intersection, where there is a traffic light. Left at the intersection puts you on Ballena Boulevard. I'd never been there myself and looked up Pier 29 on Google Maps.